


In Currents

by Daryl_Grimes (Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson)



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Child Abuse, Descriptions of child abuse, F/M, Father!Daryl, M/M, Mother!Andrea, Saviour!Rick, ShitMother!Andrea, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-04-02 03:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4044505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson/pseuds/Daryl_Grimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After responding to a domestic violence call to the Dixon household, Rick arrests Daryl for the fresh bruise forming on his wife's face. But once a few home truths are revealed, Daryl gets to go home to his son once more.</p><p>But Rick can't forget the pretty eyes of the redneck who was looking to him for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rick hit the lights to his cruiser as the job crackled through the radio.

Domestic abuse across town.

He sighed as he floored it, eyes scanning the roads. The address was all too familiar to Rick; he'd been there for noise complaints before.

It was a shame, the couples' son was going to get caught in the middle of this.

It was only about ten minutes, thanks to the little traffic and Rick pulled up in the drive. The sound of yelling and the occassional smashing glass filtered down to him and he jumped out the cruiser, rushing to the door, knocking hard.

"Police! Open the door!"

"You called the fucking police?"

There was silence before the door was yanked open and Daryl Dixon was standing there. Rick's eyes travelled past him to his wife, Andrea?, in the hallway sporting a black eye.

"Alright, Dixon, turn around. You're under arrest for domestic abuse."

"What the fuck?"

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

"I didn't hit that crazy bitch! Not like you think I did!"

Rick tugged Daryl around, easily cuffing his wrists before tugging him back to the cruiser.

"No stop you can't leave my son in there with that crazy whore!"

"Save it, Daryl."

Rick pushed him into the back of the cruiser, easily sliding into the front seat.

..

Daryl struggled, and damn he was strong, but Shane ran to help Rick, forcing the other into a holding cell. Rick reached through the bars to take the cuffs off, raising an eyebrow.

"Night, Daryl."

"Look I didn't beat my wife!"

"She had a black eye Daryl."

"She smacked my son and raised her hand again! I stopped her from beating on my kid. Where the fuck is the law against protecting your kids?!"

Rick stopped and looked back, frowning. "What happened?"

"She told him to go to bed and he didn't. He sat on the couch watching the television and she backhanded him. Raised her voice. I got in the way, and gave her one punch, sent her to the floor. Then I took DJ upstairs and put him to bed. She got angry after that and screamed as loud as she could about how I punched her. Next thing I know, you're at the door chucking me in cuffs. My son is at home with a child abuser, thanks to you."

Daryl walked away from the bars, breathing heavily as he sat on the bed.

"Good night, Daryl."

Rick headed back out to the main room, frowning when Shane clapped him on the back.

"What did the wife look like?"

"Maggie."

The clerk almost jumped from her seat as she looked around at Rick. He noticed her hair was ruffled, her shirt slightly unbuttoned, rebuttong wrong. He rose an eyebrow as a soft blush covered her face before shaking his head.

"Call CPS. I want a social worker over at the Dixon household."

"Did that prick beat his son?"

Rick looked back at Shane with a shake of his head.

"Wife is, apparently. I want that kid out of there until we investigate this."

Shane frowned a little before shrugging.

"I'll go get the story out of Dixon."

"No. I will. I need his trust, it's why I'm pulling his son out of there."

Shane nodded and shifted to go through to grab a coffee.

"They'll meet you there, Rick."

The sherriff nodded and cleared his throat.

"Next time you and Glenn head 'out', make sure you clean yourself up afterwards, Maggie."

..

Rick got out of his cruiser again, nodding at the social worker who was just getting out her car.

"You're lucky. I was about to go off shift. A second later, and you would have had to wait until morning."

Rick tilted his hat to Carol, smiling softly.

"Well I am might grateful, Ma'am. And I'm sure this little boy will be too. He and Sophia would get on very well."

"You know him?"

"Looked after him once or twice when the Dad was in jail and the Mom was on a drunken bender."

Carol nodded and Rick moved to knock on the door. Andrea opened it, peering at the two outside.

"What?"

"Andrea Dixon? We'd like to come in, please."

"Why? Who is this?"

"Why don't we discuss this inside, so your neighbours don't get an earful?"

Andrea was obviously reluctant to open the door and move aside, but she did and Rick shifted in front of Carol, keeping an eye on the blonde. He noted how her hand was shaking when she ran it through her hair, how there were numerous empty alcohol bottles visible through the living room door - and he noted the frightened figure hiding at the top of the stairs.

"Let's go somewhere quiet."

Andrea nodded at the kitchen, glaring at the top of the stairs as she passed.

"I said, _go to bed_."

Rick frowned when the blond-haired boy shot from view, almost flinching at the sound of a slamming door. They walked through to the kitchen, and Rick noted how there were barely any pictures of Andrea on the walls. Plenty of DJ, cuddled up with Daryl, or being held on another man's shoulders. One or two with DJ and Andrea at the park when DJ was clearly much younger than his current seven years of age.

"What is this about?"

"A couple of claims of child abuse have been made against your name, Mrs. Dixon."

Andrea scoffed and rolled her eyes?

"By Daryl? He'll say anything to prevent me seeing my own son."

"This is Carol Peletier, from Child Protective Services. The claims are rather severe, and so DJ needs to be removed from the residence and you need to come with me."

"What? No, you're not taking my son away from me!"

Carol rolled her eyes, moving away from the stairs.

"Don't you go up there you bitch!"

Rick easily grabbed her wrist, tugging her close to snap his cuffs on her.

"Get off me!"

"Andrea Dixon, you are under arrest on suspicion of child abuse and child endangerment."

..

The boy was peering out of his bedroom door at the woman approaching, closing it a little more as she got closer.

"Hey, hey, it's okay."

The door stopped closing and Carol smiled at the dark blue eyes staring back at her.

"My name is Carol, I'm not going to hurt you."

Slowly, the boy sat down, hand still on the door. Carol mirrored his movements, sitting down opposite him.

"What's your name?"

"D-DJ. Daddy calls me Junior sometimes though."

"Junior? Can I call you that?"

DJ was still before nodding, chewing on his thumb.

"Well, Junior, your Daddy is really worried about you, and he asked me to take you away from here."

"Where are you going to take me?"

"To my house."

"Is it scary there?"

"No no... But if you find it scary, I have a little girl, a little older than you. She'll look after you."

"She won't hurt me?"

Carol shook her head. "Why, sweetheart? Does someone hurt you?"

"I'm not allowed to say."

"You can tell me."

DJ shuffled and stared at the floor before he looked up again.

"Mommy does sometimes, when I don't do what I'm told. Daddy doesn't let her a lot."

"I promise, no one at my house will hurt you."

DJ stared at the floor before he stood, slowly opening the door.

"Will you help me pack some clothes? Daddy said to always ask the nice lady for help when she came."

Carol smiled and nodded, moving into DJ's bedroom. It was a simple room. The walls were painted light blue, maybe a few shades lighter than the boy's eyes. Posters of dinosaurs were on the walls and there were a few models of airplanes hanging from the ceiling.

"Daddy made them with me."

Carol smiled and gently knocked one, smile as it swung.

"They're beautiful."

Her eyes noticed the picture hanging on the wall of DJ, a man he resembled - that must be Daryl - and another man who looked nothing like either of them.

"That's Uncle Merle. He's Daddy's brother. He only has one hand."

The little boy giggled and Carol smiled, noting that, indeed, Merle was missing a hand.

"What happened?"

"He lost it in an accident at work. Is all he said."

Carol smiled again, nodding. "Shall we get you packed up?"

"Can I take the picture?"

Carol nodded and gently took it from the wall, helping DJ to pack his bag before carrying him downstairs and outside, to where Rick was.

"Officer Grimes?"

Rick smiled at the boy in Carol's arms.

"Yes, DJ?"

"Is Daddy in trouble?"

"No, sweetheart. You should see him again soon."

The boy nodded and Rick ruffled his hair, before Carol strapped him into the car seat. With a nod goodbye to Rick, she got into the driver's seat and pulled away.


	2. Chapter 2

Daryl was half-asleep in the cell when his arresting officer came into view.

"Daryl, come on, we're going to get a statement from you."

"So what? You can give my son to that bitch."

The door was pushed open and Daryl sat up.

"I called Child Protective Services. DJ is staying with a good friend of mine; her and her little girl. Andrea's been arrested on suspicion of child abuse and child endangerment. Without a statement explaining what she's done, we can't hold her and she'll get DJ back."

Daryl was staring at Rick, clearing his throat.

"My- my little boy is away from her."

"Safe and sound, and probably tucked up in bed, being read a bedtime story."

Daryl gave a soft laugh, standing up, shaking as he did so.

Rick smiled at him as he passed, placing a hand on his shoulder to lead him through to the small interrogation room they had.

"This is Sheriff Rick Grimes, interrogating one, Daryl Dixon, about the abuse his son, Daryl Dixon Junior, had suffered under the care of his mother, Andrea Dixon - currently in police custody.. Daryl what happened tonight?"

Daryl was playing with the sleeve of his too long shirt, and Rick found himself staring at his fingers as the fabric twitched through his fingers.

"It was getting pretty late. About, 10 o'clock. DJ is home-schooled, so sometimes I let him stay up later. He normally goes to bed around 8, but he really wasn't tired, so I let him stay up with me. We were watching a superhero movie - a 12A, before I get yelled at - and I got up in the break to get a drink and go to the toilet. I was grabbing a bag of nuts from the kitchen when I heard Andrea in the living room. I went to the doorway - DJ was just staring at the screen; the movie had come back on and he was enamoured. He loves the X-Men movies, see, and he loves Wolverine it was that one where the guy goes to Tokyo - and he was just... Lost in the movie.  
Andrea had told him to go to bed, and he wasn't listening. Not from disobedience, he just didn't hear her."

Daryl stopped, smiling.

"I tell ya, my boy's a little wonder. He can be staring directly at you, watching your lips move, but if his mind isn't there, y'all gotta repeat yourself about twelve times." The smile faded.

"When he didn't acknowledge her, Andrea repeated herself. He still didn't move and she slapped him. He fell back and stared up at her, scared, tears in his eyes. She started yelling, _I told you to go to bed now get to bed you little brat_. She raised her hand again and I just... I was in the middle of them, shoving her back. I slapped her, I admit that. _How do you like it? Don't raise a hand to our son you bitch_. She just stared at me and I turned around and took DJ upstairs. I tucked him up in bed and gave him a kiss and all that crap. Made sure he was okay and then I read him a chapter of the story we've been reading together. I came downstairs when he was asleep and Andrea started ripping into me. It was then I realised she'd been drinking. She threw a bottle at me; _how the hell is that little shit going to learn if you stop me disciplining him_. I shoved her back again, she was yelling in my face and I yelled a bit. _It's not discipline, it's abuse. Discipline is taking away privileges, not slapping him around_. Then, I heard someone knocking on the door, yelling about the police and I couldn't believe she'd called you guys whilst I was putting DJ to bed."

Daryl shrugged, the fabric of his shirt still moving through his fingers.

"Daryl, is this the first time that Andrea has hit DJ?"

"Nah. Nah, is this hell." Daryl snorted, leaning back. "The first time, he was about four. It was Christmas dinner and he knocked her glass of wine over. It was a total accident, but Andrea went absolutely mental, clouted him. Sent him to his room. He had a massive bruise on his face for weeks. I kicked her out, and she stayed with her sister. I stupidly let her back in the house."

"Has she done anything other than hit him?"

Daryl froze, seeming not to be in the room before he gave a nervous laugh.

"He, uh, yea. The bitch did. I was working late - I'm a journalist so sometimes I need to stay at work until about 3am. I got home, and DJ was curled up in the bathroom. He was in the shower, sobbing. Andrea wasn't there. I tugged him out and he started screaming when I rubbed his arm and... There was a burn. Pretty bad. I took him to the hospital and we got it treated - was a second degree burn - he told the doctor he had been trying to cook a suprise for his Mamma and he burnt himself. When we got home, I asked him what happened. He said, he hadn't done what Mamma said and she got angry. Sat him on the side, turned the hob on the cooker on and then held his arm just above the flame whilst he kicked and screamed in pain. I checked the camera footage-"

"Sorry to interrupt, camera footage?"

"Yea yea, she started hitting him around pretty badly and I set some cameras up."

Rick nodded, indicating him to go on.

"I checked the kitchen camera and sure enough, she had him pinned whilst he tried to get away. She knew I would kick her out. She didn't come back for three months. I wasn't going to let her back in but DJ wanted his Mamma so I had to."

He sighed.

"She's also pushed him down the stairs once. He told the doctor that he was playing and he slipped. I didn't stop to correct them. Somehow, DJ loves her, so I've sort of... Let her get away with it I guess. I stop her, but I don't report it. I should but... He doesn't want to lose his Mamma. I've had it with her now, I'm not letting him get hurt again."

"You have all this footage?"

"How much do you need? I even have the bitch throwing him down the stairs."

Rick ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm going to let you go home. You won't see DJ for a little while, but we have Andrea in custody. I want you to compile the more serious incidents and if you can, the incident from tonight, for me to use as evidence. I'll come by in a few days to get it."

Daryl nodded and stood, following Rick to the door.

"Thank you, Rick. I don't think... I'm glad you're working this case."

"So am I. That little boy is precious, and I'm not going to let Andrea hurt him anymore. He needs his Daddy."

Daryl smiled at him, heading outside with a sniff, walking home rather than accepting a lift from Rick.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl groaned as his alarm went off, rolling over to turn it off. His head was ringing, and he had to delve in his bed side cabinet to dry swallow some pain killers.

Closing his eyes, Daryl rubbed his temple, letting the peace of the day fall over him.

It must be Sunday.

He rolled over, only to remember with a jolt that DJ wasn’t in the house, that DJ was away with child protective services, and not in bed.

Another groan escaped the man, this time, of loneliness. Whenever Andrea wasn’t home, Daryl would always wake up with his son curled up against his side, seeking his the comfort his Father gave him.

But that was why he had been working overtime at the office, barely coming home. To avoid the empty house.

The night he had gotten back, he’d thrown out the empty bottles lying around everywhere, poured away the rest of the alcohol, changed clothes, took a couple of caffeine pills and then headed straight to the office. He had some articles due and he couldn’t stand being in the house.

Daryl got up, wrinkling his nose at the scent of stale alcohol. He opened the window before pattering through to the en suite, turning the water on. Moving through the house, he grabbed his phone from the port where it was charging, heading downstairs to make a coffee.

He had numerous texts – a few from colleagues, which meant that a newspaper somewhere had finally published that Andrea had been arrested for child abuse – and a text from Officer Grimes.

Feeling his face flush, Daryl cursed himself, before setting about making a coffee.

Beth Greene, the paper’s resident ‘how to’ girl, had sent a long ass message to him on Facebook and the male rolled his eyes as he opened it.

 _‘Hey!_  
_I hope this isn’t crossing any boundaries, I know you like your privacy, but I was just wondering if what the Print published was true? I mean, I know that Andrea’s black eye was from you and it was no doubt you trying to look after DJ but was she really arrested for child abuse? Has she really been hurting him? :/_  
_If you and DJ ever need anywhere to stay, or if you just need someone to look after DJ, feel free to ask me. I use to look after the neighbourhood kids, and had a job babysitting for a while when I was trying to move out of my home town. Plus, DJ loves me._  
_If you need someone to talk to, don’t be afraid to let me know! We can grab a coffee or something. c:_  
_See you at work_  
_xx’_

The sigh that escaped Daryl’s throat was one of annoyance.

Numerous times Beth had flirted with him before he and Andrea become public knowledge at the office, but this was... something else from the girl.

Besides, she was half his age, at least.

Philip, his boss, known as The Governor to those at work, had simply asked what the hell was going on. T-Dog was showing concern, offering him a place to stay whilst the house was empty.

Daryl sipped his coffee, staring at the text from Rick – only able to read _Hey Daryl, just to let you kn..._ and anxiety hit him. Jabbing his thumb down on the message, his breath caught in his throat.

_Hey Daryl, just to let you know, I finish at noon today, so I’ll be coming over around 1 for that footage, if that’s okay? I know the past few days have been tough on you so I thought I’d do you the liberty of bringing over some Chinese food. Let me know.  
\- R_

A smile crossed Daryl’s face as he quickly tapped his reply – _yea that sounds good. I like chow meine :P_ – before disappearing upstairs for a shower.

xox

His laptop just kept dinging and Daryl was ready to throw it out the window.

Email after email.

Newspaper after magazine looking for an interview about the whole Andrea ordeal. Yea, they could all shove it.

Groaning, Daryl opened his work Twitter, flinching at the 99+ notifications he had.

140 characters to express his annoyance.

 _I ain't talking about what happened. Stop asking. What happened is personal to my family and my family alone._  
  
_I'd appreciate privacy._

Tweet and log out. Opening his personal Twitter, he frowned, seeing a few notifications, mostly just retweets. Opening DMs, he sighed seeing a message from Merle.

_The fuck she do?_

Daryl rolled his eyes.

 _She hit him one too many times. Had me arrested for smacking her and stopping her from hitting him again. I told the cops everything_.

Everything stopped beeping and Daryl sighed, relaxing into his couch.

_I’ll come over at around 3. See you after work. Where’s DJ?_

_CPS took him away from Andrea whilst I was in jail. Won’t see him for a few more days and then he **should** be home with any luck. If not, I’ll kill Andrea myself. Ain’t losing my little boy because of her_.

Merle must have finished his lunch break because he went silent. Daryl gladly got up, moving to make yet another coffee.

The office was the last place he wanted to be today, he had an article due by 11:59pm tonight, and Rick was coming over.  
And he had another 800 words to write just on his first draft.

Not to mention he had to update his blog, and monitor his professional Twitter because this was going to escalate beyond his control if he didn’t.

A sigh escaped his lips and he checked the time, finding himself smiling when it was 1 o’clock. Like clockwork, the doorbell rang and Daryl let himself stand still for a moment before going to answer it.

“Officer Grimes, hey there. Come on in.”

The Sherriff smiled softly as he walked inside, raising an eyebrow.

“This place looks unlived in.”

“Oh yea, I cleaned Andrea’s alcohol out and then spent the past three days working at the office nonstop.”

The scent of Chinese food made Daryl realise just how hungry he was and within minutes, both men were eating on the couch, laughing at each other’s failed attempts with chopsticks.


End file.
